Ang Lee says he had no intention of breaking ground when he directed the film Lust, Caution. he Motion Picture Association of America did, however, and slapped his drama with an NC-17 rating typically the kiss of death for a film with aspirations of drawing a mainstream audience.

Sequels filled movie screens in 2007. But beyond the buccaneers, arachnids and ogres, the movie year also unearthed smaller gems, many of which delved into darker themes. USA TODAY takes stock of the year in film:

Ang Lee is undeniably one of the finest directors in modern cinema. No contemporary filmmaker has crafted such a radically varied body of work with so many illustrious individual pieces. But reserve dampens the passion in Lust, Caution, his beautifully mounted but rather unmoving film. It feels surprisingly cold, despite this erotic thriller's ultra-explicit sex scenes.